Associated with an automatic transmission installed in a vehicle is a gear range indicator which displays the gear range selected by a vehicle operator using a shift mechanism.
Prior art gear range indicators commonly rely exclusively on adjustment of the effective length of a cable connecting the indicator with the shift mechanism to compensate for variations in relative location between the indicator and the shift mechanism attaching point. One method of adjustment is to pull on the cable until a desired alignment between indicated gear range and shift mechanism position is achieved, and then fixing the cable to the shift mechanism. An alternative adjustment method provides a rotatable threaded member, similar to a turnbuckle, between the shift mechanism and the gear range indicator for adjusting the effective length of the cable. One such adjuster is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,788,881, issued to Owen et al. on Dec. 6, 1988, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
Reducing the sensitivity of the gear range indication to variations in position between the indicator and the shift mechanism attaching point is an alternative to adjusting the effective cable length. An example of a gear range indicator employing this approach is provided by U.S. Pat. No. 5,070,808, issued to Poskie on Dec. 19, 1991, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention.